Improvement in gas-generators



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EZRA lV. lVHlTElIEAD AND JAMES L. CONKLIN, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

iMPROVEMENT IN GAS-GENERATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 17,599, dated June 16, 1857.

T0 collie/"tom, t may concern:

Be itknown that we, EZRA W. WHITEHEAD and JAMES L. CONKLTN, of Newark, in the State of New Jersey, have invented or devised certain new and useful Improvements in Retorts or Apparatus for Manufacturing Gas for Illumination; and we herein describe and ascertain said apparatus and the specific improvements, for which we desire to secure Letters Patent.

The purpose of our,improvement is to elnploy an extended surface at a more moderate heat than is usual in making gas, so as to perfect the manufacture at a lower tempera ture and prevent the destruction which we have found to occur in ordinary gas-retorts, that reduces the quantity and quality of gas produced from the material used for its manufacture.

Ve are aware that several devices for making gas from wood, coal, and other suitable substances have been patented, and especiallyV for reheating the gas after it has been formed. Most of these devices are either complex or require such careful and experienced management as to be precluded from common use, and most of them are found practically to produce an inferior quantity or quality of gas.

Our device by practical experiment will make gas not only from ordinary coals, but from the rich Breckenridge coal and coal-tar, a substance never before used for such purposes with success.

The construction of the apparatus is as follows: The retort is of cast-iron of cylindrical form and with a convex bottom or inner end. It is clearly shown in Figure l at a. On the two opposite sides of this retort there are two iiues b Z1', cast in one piece with it. These two flues in the position indicated, whether made exterior or interior to the circle of the cylinder, materially serve to strengthen the retort and cause it to retain its form under the red heat to which it is exposed, while at the same time the body of the retort is in no way shielded from the heat of the fire. In this way we can make our retorts much larger than the ordinary size, and are enabled to keep their temperature down to produce the best effect by exposing more surface to the iire. Around the inside of the retort near the lower end there is a projecting ledge c,

(see section, Fig. 2,) and another similar ledge projects at d near the top or open end of the retort. The fiues b b open into the retort at the convex end thereof, and one of them l) also opens into the retort outside the ledge d, as clearly represented at Fig. 2. The upper ends of both fiues are open, and they, as well as the open end of the retort, are surrounded by a double flange, that forms a deep groove, into which covers fit to close the apparatus, and are properly bolted or clamped down.

To pack the joints of the retort-cover we insert liely-pulverized asbestus in the groove above named, into which we embed the coveriiauge, and thus form a gasproof joint that is also fire-proof and does not cement the cover by high heat, so as to impede its ready removal.

Vithin the retort, when set in a vertical position, We place a bucket f, formed of sheetiron or other thin metal suitable for the purpose, in which we place the charge 'so as to be easily withdrawn for recharging. If the retort is set horizontal, instead of the bucket f a disk or head is inserted, resting against the ledge c, where it is fastened and is made to aid in withdrawing the charge as the bucket in the vertical set. The bucket, as will be seen, is suspended by the flange d.

W'hen this apparatus is charged and the gas begins to form, it follows the course of the arrows till it Hows oif at pipe 7i', from whence it is conducted by proper pipes to the condensers and washers, as in ordinal' gas-1nak ing, and which are consequently neither shown nor described. (It is obvious that one of the flues t) or b could be dispensed with; but the effect would not be so perfect as if both were employed.)

To regulate the pressure and provide a safety-discharge for the retort, we aiix at 7o a pipe opening into the iue b of siphon form, which eut-ers a vessel m of water, into which it descends to a depth of sixteen inches, more or less, below the surface of the water, and when the pressure of the retort is suiiicient to drive the gas out through this pipe 7c it passes up through the water and oit through a pipe Z, leading from the vessel m to the chimney or elsewhere. Ve thus protect the retort against explosion or undue pressure.

The charge we generally use is rich coal, or we charge the retort with sawdust or other ne ligneous particles, and then employ coal tar to produce the carbon. This is introduced into the ue b through pipe above its lateral bend, the quantity being regulated by the faucet o. l Having thus described our apparatus, what We claim therein as our invention Vis'- The construction and arrangement of the retort, as herein described, having two Hues on opposite sides for strengthening the same and leaving a larger portion of the'walls of the retort for the direct action of the fire, in the manner and for the purposes specified. EZRA WHITEHEAD. l JAMES L. CONKLIN. `Witnessesz WM. PENDLETON, A. S. WAY. 

